Egyptian police detain Brotherhood candidate

CAIRO, May 30 (Reuters) Egyptian police have detained a Muslim Brotherhood candidate for the upper house of parliament and 11 supporters as they campaigned in the Nile Delta province of Sharkia, Brotherhood sources said today.

The arrests, the latest in a crackdown on the group before the June elections, come two days after the Brotherhood announced it had successfully registered 19 candidates for the elections, just one short of its original stated goal of 20.

A Brotherhood eyewitness said the candidate, Nagy Sakr, had been campaigning in his hometown of Zagazig yesterday evening with around 100 supporters when police tried to detain him.

Scuffles broke out as Sakr's supporters tried to stop police from reaching him, but Sakr and 11 of his supporters were detained.

Yesterday, police detained six Brotherhood loyalists in the Nile Delta province of Menoufiya.

Egyptians have largely ignored Shoura Council elections in the past, but the next elections will be the first since changes to the constitution gave the council some legislative powers.

Previous constitutional amendments in 2005 also stipulated that independent candidates for the Egyptian presidency need the support of a number of Shoura Council members.

The Brotherhood won 88 seats in the more powerful 454-seat parliament in 2005, but has no seats in the Shoura Council.

The government calls the Brotherhood an illegal organisation and frequently harasses it, detaining members for holding meetings, possessing Brotherhood literature or belonging to an illegal group.

But it runs an office in Cairo and fields candidates in elections as independents.

REUTERS GL KN1847